It is one of the cosmos' most mysterious unsolved cases: dark matter. It is supposedly what holds the universe together. We can't see it, but scientists are pretty sure it's out there.

Led by a dogged, Nobel Prize-winning gumshoe who has spent 18 years on the case, scientists put a $2 billion detector aboard the International Space Station to try to track down the stuff. And after two years, the first evidence came in Wednesday: tantalizing cosmic footprints that seem to have been left by dark matter.

Animal Planet wants to help you tap into your inner wild.

That's the network's message as it unveils 11 new shows along with 20 returning favorites in the season ahead.

In a worrisome sign, a bird flu in China appears to have mutated so that it can spread to other animals, raising the potential for a bigger threat to people, scientists said Wednesday.

So far the flu has sickened nine people in China and killed three. It's not clear how they became infected, but there's no evidence that the virus is spreading easily among people.

One of the world's most celebrated short story writers has received a top prize for his art form.

George Saunders has won the PEN/Malamud Award, named for short story master Bernard Malamud. The honor is worth $5,000. It was announced Wednesday by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez was ordered to carry out 250 hours of community service after admitting Wednesday to driving with his license suspended and without insurance.

The Argentina international was also handed a fresh six-month driving ban and ordered to pay costs of 1,145 pounds ($1,730) after pleading guilty to the offenses in court near Manchester.

Veteran Indian actor and director Manoj Kumar has filed a lawsuit against Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan for releasing a popular 2007 film in Japan without deleting scenes that make fun of him.

Kumar is seeking 1 billion rupees ($18.5 million) in damages from Khan and Eros International, the producers of the film, "Om Shanti Om."

France's Louvre museum is getting a new director — the man who is leading the restoration of its most famous Greek sculpture and has his hands in some of the institutions latest efforts to expand its reach.

Jean-Luc Martinez, a French specialist in Greek, Roman and Etruscan antiquities who has worked at the Louvre since 2007, was appointed by President Francois Hollande for a three-year term.

A Chicago-based social media company called Timelines Inc. can sue Facebook Inc. over allegations that it violated the smaller firm's trademark on the word "timeline," a federal judge ruled.

Timelines launched a website called Timelines.com in 2009 that enables users to track historical events and their personal lives online. Two years later, Facebook Inc. launched a major new feature it called "timeline," which similarly allows users to highlight their lives online in chronological order.

Carmelo Anthony equaled his best ever score with 50 points as the New York Knicks won their ninth straight game with a 102-90 victory over the injury-depleted Miami Heat on Wednesday.

Anthony sank 18 of 26 attempts from the field, reaching 50 on a jump shot with 16.9 seconds remaining. J.R. Smith scored 14 and Raymond Felton added 10 for New York.

When Shaquille O'Neal visited the Forum during the summer he joined the Los Angeles Lakers, general manager Jerry West encouraged him to look up at the retired jerseys hanging above the court.

"He said, 'You can be as great as these guys,'" O'Neal recalled.